Laced article of apparel



(2.. MUNTER. ucsn ARTICLE 0?. APPAREL. APPLICATION man o'zc.5,- 1911.

' 1,367,419. Patented Feb. 1,1921.

..- r T ha 3mm Charla s Man tar,

18 mm 1' I I W za CHARLES HUNTER, OF "NEW YORK, N. Y.

LACED ARTICLE OF APPAREL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

Application filed December 5, 1917. Serial No. 205,624.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Crmnnns MUNTER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Laced Article of Apparel, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to articles of apparel, and more particularly to lacing for adjusting such apparel. The invention may be embodied in corsets, brassieres, abdominal supports, leggings, shoes, or in any other article of wearing apparel where its use would be beneficial, as hereinafter more clearly pointed out.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved form of lacing, whereby the garment with which it is associated may be most readily and expeditiously adjusted to the contour or the curves of the figure, through themedium of lacing which re quires a minimum tension to be placed thereon, to bring about the required adjustment.

Features of the invention other tha those specified, will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated one practical embodiment of the invention, but the construction therein shown is to be understood as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure 1 shows the back portion of an abdominal belt in which the present invention is incorporated, and t t Fig. 2 shows the lacing diagrammatically, with its free ends ununited.

As hereinbefore stated, the present invention maybe associated with any article of wearing apparel, but for the purpose of illustration, same is shown as embodied in an abdominal support. In the drawings, A designates the support, which is of any well-known form, and is provided at its back with an opening a, extending upwardly from the lower edge of the garment to a point below the upper edge thereof. Complementary pairs of eyelets a, a a, a and a are juxtapositioned along the opposite edges of said opening, with one eyelet of each air on either side of the opening, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

upwardly and longitudinally along opposite edges of opening a and passed through the second pair of eyelets o The opposite ends of the lace are thence carried diagonally across the opening a, cross one another, and are threaded through the third palr of eyelets a The lace is thereafter manipulated, as hereinbefore described, so as to alternately extend longltudinally of the edges of the open- 1ng,.and transversely thereof, to cover any desired length of opening and correspond 111g number of eyelets until the last pair of eyelets a are reached. lVhereupon, the free ends of the lace are brought together and united 111 any suitable way, as by tying knot C. Of course, the ends may be united in any other manner, but are preferably secured together so as to be adjustable.

By this construction it will appear, that if tension is applied to the ends I) of the lace when the knot C is united, said tension will serve to pull the lace taut, and adjust the opening a to the extension desired. The tension required to bring about this result is minimized by the fact that successive reaches of the lace do not make sharp acute angles with one another, as has heretofore generally been the case, it being well-known that it requires more power to draw a lace around a sharp corner where the angles between successive reaches are of a marked acute character. In every instance in the present invention, the angle between suc cessive reaches of the lace is substantially equal to ninety degrees, or considerably greater. The lace thus pulls with great ease through the eyelets. and much less friction results in the adjusting of the opening a.

A lace of the character described is preferably associated with an opening, one end of which is closed after the manner shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and the lace is knotted in the closed end. This arrangement has been found to require the least tension in drawing the opening shut, and

- also places the least strain on the knot after the same has been tied. It will be understood, however, that while the arrangement shown is preferred, it is not exclusive, and the lace may be associated with an opening which is open at both ends.

1 When a lacing of the character described is associated with corsets, Vbrassieres, and other forms of body conformers which encircle the torso, belt sections D, may be associated with the lacing, as by loops E shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 as encircling .the reaches of the lacing. The lacing C is partiallyadjusted before the garment is put on, and finally adjusted after the garment isdonned, by the tightening of the belt sections D. Thus, the partial adjustment of the garment may be obtained through the manipulation of the lace independently of the belt sections, and the final adjustment obtained through the agency of the belt it lets of the pair a it maybe positioned in other relation or in any other position desired, without departing from'thespirit of this invention, which is to be understood as broadly novel as is commensurate'with the appended claims.

The construction described not only facilitates and expedites the adjustment of the garment, but, moreover, greatly increases the durability of the lacing, and further, permits, if necessary, of its ready replacement.

f Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, an

- article of apparel provided with an opening,

whereby the garment may be applied to the wearer, a plurality of complementary pairs of eyelets juxtaposed along the opposite edges of said opening, with one eyelet of each pair positioned on either side of the openlng, and a lace connecting one pair of eyelets, then having its leads extending longitudinally of the opening and subtantially parallel to the adjacent edges thereof, to a second pair of eyelets, thence extending diagonally across the opening to a third pair of eyelets, and, thereafter, alternating longitudinally and diagonally as described, until the last pair of eyelets to be utilized is reached, at which points the lace is drawn taut and the leads thereof tied together with the alternate reaches of the lace substantially parallel to the adjacent edge of the opening and the intermediate reaches of the lace extending diagonally across the opening, with the angles between successive reaches of the lace, except at the terminal reaches at the top and bottom of the opening in excess of 90 degrees to one another, whereby the sliding of the lace through the eyelets during adjustment of the opening is greatly facilitated and binding of the lace practically precluded.

2. As a new article of manufacture, an article of apparel provided with an opening, a plurality of complementary pairs of eyelets juxtaposed along the opposite edges of said opening, with one eyelet of each pair positioned on either side of the opening, and a lace connecting one pair of eyelets, then having its leads extending longitudinally of the opening and parallel to the adjacent edges thereof, to a second pair of eyelets, thence diagonally across the opening to a third pair of eyelets, and thereafter, alternating, longitudinally and diagonally as described, until the last pair of eyelets to be utilized is reached at which points the lace is drawn taut and the leads thereof tied together with the alternate reaches of the lace substantially parallel to the adjacent edge of the opening and the intermediate reaches of the lace extending diagonally across the opening, in combination with a pair of belt sections one end of each of which is provided with a loop embracing one of a pair of juxtaposed parallel reaches of the lace on the opposite sides of the opening, which belt sections are adapted to be secured about the waist of the wearer to place the lace under further tension to bring the garment into finished adjustment on the wearer, the belt sections having free sliding engagement with the lace whereby said lace may be readily removed and replaced by another in the'event of breakage or wear.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

CHARLES lWUNTEl-l. 

